Photo Caption: a black lab that's outside
by a park railing laying in the shade and looking out beyond the railing.
I took my seat on the Paratransit vehicle, across from a colleague,
a lady with her dog guide. The third traveler on the vehicle asked the lady
what her dog’s name was; her reply totally took me by surprise.
“What did she just call that dog? That’s not that dog’s
name!”
That was exactly what I was thinking. The other rider said
hi to the dog using this fake name and then went about his business. The driver
dropped him off, and immediately I asked the lady why she gave the guy a
different name for her dog. You will discover her answer as we provide 3
reasons why you, also, may wish to use a false name for your service animal in
public. Then we will offer 5 tips for picking the best made-up name for your
service animal.
The Problem
Traveling with a service animal (a guide dog in my
particular case) has many benefits; the admiring public often is not one of
them. Sure, it’s great when people tell you how cute your dog is; it’s much
more troubling when they want to stop and “Converse” with him, repeating his
name time and time again.
Based on the incident outlined above and another similar one
I witnessed a few months later, I decided that the “Fake name” idea was a good
one. Here are 4 reasons why you also may wish to adopt this strategy.
#1. Safety
While the tasks each service animal performs differ widely,
dog guides certainly must concentrate on their work; a dog guide’s mistake
could be fatal to the dog and the human it guides. Even in situations where
severe injuries and death are not likely, safety is a top priority!
Nothing can prevent onlookers from speaking to your dog, and
ultimately you, the handler, are responsible for keeping your dog focused on
its work. Nevertheless, you can avoid some dangerous situations by giving
strangers a fake name when they ask for one. Each of my guide dogs have react
quite positively to hearing their names; they almost always do not react at all
if you use a false name. If your dog doesn’t react when you call it by a false
name, it is likely to pay much less attention to a stranger who uses that
made-up name, keeping both you and your dog much safer.
#2. Distractions
While distractions are related to safety, something can
distract a dog and be more of an annoyance than a major safety issue. Again,
you cannot remove all possible distractions, but you can remove this frustrating
one. Your dog may react to hearing, “Hi, doggie!” But it assuredly will react
to, “Hey Juno (or whatever its actual name is!)” You probably can think of many
situations where your dog got distracted. While the distraction may not have
affected safety, it may have led to the dog misbehaving or losing focus,
causing you to correct the dog. If the stranger called the dog by a fake name,
the dog probably didn’t react, wasn’t distracted, and didn’t get corrected.
#3. Fun
Ok, this concept may seem strange to some of you, but some
people wish their dog’s name was different. Maybe you really don’t like your
dog’s name, but, for the dog’s sake, you continue to use it. In public,
however, why not use a made-up name? Not only would it, in this instance,
lessen distractions and improve safety—it also lets you pretend, even if only
for a short time, that your dog had the name you would have chosen instead of
its name that you really have trouble tolerating.
Perhaps you have no interest in changing your dog’s name,
but you du enjoy pranking others. Giving someone who asks a made-up name for
your dog, if nothing else, is a way to prank, fool, or trick someone, and if
you’re a prankster, you can have your fun and be safer at the same time. Incidentally,
the lady on the Paratransit vehicle cited each of these three reasons when
explaining why she used that false name.
5 Tips for Choosing the Best Fake Name
So you’ve decided to try using a fake name for your dog in
public; here are 6 tips for picking the best one for you.
#1. Differs Totally from Dog’s Actual Name
Since the goal is for the dog not to react to the name, it
should be totally different from the dog’s real name. For instance, if your
dog’s name is Hannah, you would steer clear of Ana, Briana, Angela, and maybe
any name starting with the letter H. Names like Sally, Trish and Meg would
work.
#2. Differs from the Name of a Dog You Are Around Often
You’ve selected a name you like for your dog, but you run
into a problem; it sounds too much like the actual name of a dog someone else
has at work. Your colleague’s dog is named Larry. You realize that Gary probably
isn’t a good name since it’s too similar to your colleagues’ dogs’ name. If
this happens, pick something very unique so you don’t cause another dog handler
unnecessary problems.
#3. Gender-Neutral or Fits Dog’s Gender
We don’t want to stifle your creativity; nevertheless, you
probably don’t want to call your mail dog, Jennifer or your female dog, Rex. You
don’t want someone to say something like, “No really! What’s your dog’s name?”
Choose a name that is believable, or the stranger may realize you’re “Playing”
them which just might lead that stranger to develop a negative opinion of
people with disabilities.
#4. Not Offensive
It happens! You come in contact with someone who makes you
uncomfortable and may even be a threat to your wellbeing. Even so, it’s best
not to use a false name that is offensive or draws too much attention to
yourself. Your dog can’t go by “Killer”, “Cujo”, or some other name that makes
it out to be overly aggressive. The last thing you want is for someone to call
your bluff and try to hurt you or your dog. Using a name that implies that your
dog is aggressive draws undue attention to you and the dog—attention you
definitely don’t want or need.
#5. Something You Like
If you’re going to use a fake name, make it something you
like, especially if you aren’t thrilled with the dog’s real name. Also, if
someone’s going to use the name to try to get the dog’s attention, it might as
well be a name you would like your dog to have.
Final Thoughts
Here are a few things to consider as it relates to giving
people a fake name for your dog.
Don’t Expect the Dog to Respond to It
Whatever situation you come up against, it’s unwise to use
the dog’s fake name when you want it to obey you. Use the dog’s real name, and
speak at a lower volume, or use hand signals to get the dog to do what you
want. In some instances, you don’t need to use a name at all. Many times I’ll
say something like, “Come on Mr.” or “Let’s go, boy!” My dog still pays
attention, and I didn’t have to use his name.
Admittedly, such a scenario may make you decide that you can
just take your chances with just telling people your dog’s real name. I found,
though, during my most recent trip to train with a new dog that distractions in
public places were easier to handle if the inquisitive public didn’t know my
dog’s actual name and couldn’t distract him in that particular way. Ultimately,
it’s up to you to decide if this method will work for you. Maybe you can try it
when you go somewhere you won’t go often so you can see if it works well for
you.
Avoid Using a Fake Name with People You See Often
One time you probably do not want to employ a false name is
around family, work colleagues, or around people you will know well. You are
around these people and, in most cases, you can teach them not to use the dog’s
name in a distracting way. They will ask how your dog is doing and may use its
name, but that usage usually is not distracting.
We have discussed reasons for using a false name in public
for your service animal and provided tips for picking a name that works for
you. You may wish to try it and see how well this method works for you. Let us
know your thoughts and opinions in the comments or through social media.
Second photo caption: A female black lab laying
down on a white couch with her head resting on a man’s legs. The dog is looking
at the camera.
Ever since Louis
Braille adapted his “Braille Tablet” to write his system, people have been
bothered by the downward writing involved in using a braille slate and
stylus. In order to read braille that you write on a standard slate, you
have to turn the paper over, so you have to reverse both the direction you
write and the characters as you write them. There have been a lot of
different efforts to overcome this perceived deficiency, but I’m not going into
that here. Our object this week is a Swail Dot Inverter, introduced by
APH in 1965. It is a humble little aluminum stylus with a faceted handle
and a hollow tipped steel blade. When not in use, you can store the blade
in the handle. It was designed to emboss raised dots, useful for
constructing simple tactile graphics. You
can still buy one! Although the Swail works with paper, it seems to
give the best results with plastic Brailon
paper from American Thermoform, which also appeared in the APH catalog for
the first time in 1965.
